[quote=Shadowfax]Most of this argument presumes that humans act logically. Face it, they don’t. What motivates people is human nature and self-interest. They frequently like to hide behind other vehicles to promote their self-interest–religion, politics–that make their self-interest seem noble or even devine. Christians have done more than their fair share of war-waging. Anyone heard of the Inquisition? [/quote]
Fact: There are more people killed by Islamists every year than in 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition.
Fact: The 9/11 hijackers were actually quite educated, having finished engineering degrees. A study of many islamists shows that they are actually quite educated and have had many opportunities for success. The second in command of Al Qaeda is a DOCTOR. Osama bin Laden was independently wealthy.
The only common thread among islamists is that the more religious they get, the more radical they become and this is due to the inherent calls to violence within the Koran.
[quote=Shadowfax]There may be no call to war in the New Testament but that didn’t stop people (and still doesn’t) from using that religion as a spring-board to propel their self-interests through war. Bush is a prime example–“Man of faith” willing to torture and kill people. And I don’t know if he and his blindly loyal followers even see the dichotomy. [/quote]
Yes, but George Bush was not doing these things for religious sakes or for religious reasons. Many Christian/Catholic leaders were against the war and what he did. There is no such disagreement in Islam. When you see attacks by Islamists, they are usually supported by the imams.
[quote=Shadowfax]The reason Islam is so successful in the middle east and parts of Africa is that these people have nothing to lose. They have families but they don’t have much else in life. (You don’t see many sons of the Saudi royal family involved in suicide bombings, but I’d bet you could track financial support back in that direction.)[/quote]
There are actually many well educated Saudis who have volunteered for suicide bombings. I would say the only reason why there are not a lot of Saudi royal family members involved in terrorism is simply because they are more secular. If they were truly pious muslims, they would be more involved. As it is, this is also a false argument because suicide bombings are not the only ways to further the islamic cause.
[quote=Shadowfax]Islam gives them a future reward for present acts, as does Christianity. In a stunning lack of acumen, the US has not done much to “make friends” with these people. Our golden age has been tarnished by our bungling of the post-9/11 outpouring of support. I hope we can get it back…we’re going to need all the help and allies we can get.[/quote]
It’s really difficult to make friends with peoples whose core belief is that they have to make war on you, that you are the descendants of apes and pigs and not worthy of trust. I’m not saying that you should call all-out war on every muslim, but you should realize it’s difficult to make friends with them with that attitude.
If you think that making nice with muslims will make them stop their jihad, I’m afraid you’ll be very disappointed to say the least.
Again, I’m not being a warmonger. I’m just letting you know what many of the jihadists think.
